World Language Course Selection

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Elwood John Glenn High School

Why continue studying a language?

• You will likely be required to take a foreign language in college.
• Earn credits NOW in high school that you can put towards the language requirement or even a language major/minor!
• There are so many benefits to knowing another language:
• Stand out to college recruiters
• Increase your chances of employment
• Use your knowledge of the language and culture when you travel in the future
• Challenge yourself
• Bilingualism has been linked to higher test scores
• Understand the world from a different perspective

Spanish Language Pathway

9th grade: Spanish 2

10th grade: Spanish 3

End of 10th grade: FLACS B Exam�(required for Advanced Regents diploma)

11th grade: College Spanish - Advanced Communication

12th grade: �AP Spanish

11th grade: College Spanish South America

12th grade: College Spanish - Latin America

12th grade: College Spanish Latin America

You can also add ASL 1 as an elective ANY year!

ALL upper level courses after level 3 offer St. John’s college credit

11th grade: College Spanish - Advanced Communication

Italian Language Pathway

9th grade: Italian 2

10th grade: Italian 3

End of 10th grade: FLACS B Exam�(required for Advanced Regents diploma)

11th grade: College Italian - Advanced Communication

12th grade: �AP Italian

11th grade: College Italian - Communication & Culture

12th grade: College Italian - Travel & Lifestyle

You can also add ASL 1 as an elective any year!

You can also place into Spanish if you are a native speaker!

11th grade: College Italian for Advanced Communication

12th grade: College Italian - Travel & Lifestyle

ALL upper level courses after level 3 offer St. John’s college credit

American Sign Language Pathway

9th grade: ASL 1

10th grade: ASL 2

11th grade: ASL 3

Checkpoint B Exam (Advanced Regents Diploma)

12th grade: College American Sign Language

10th grade: ASL 1

11th grade: ASL 2

12th grade: ASL 3

Checkpoint B Exam (Advanced Regents Diploma)

11th grade: ASL 1

12th grade: ASL 2

ASL Level 4 offer St. John’s college credit

Course Title Changes

• Pre AP → College Spanish/Italian for Advanced Communication�
• Conversational Spanish → College Spanish - Latin American OR College Spanish - South America�
• Conversational Italian → College Italian - Travel & Lifestyle OR College Italian - Communication & Culture�
• ASL 4 → College American Sign Language

Earning College Credits

• You have the opportunity to earn up to 12 college credits during junior + senior year through ALL Spanish & Italian upper level courses and ASL 4.�
• Credits will be earned through St. John’s University College Advantage Program: (additional information)
• It costs only $325 for 3 private university credits.
• These credits are accepted at 130 colleges and may satisfy your language requirement or count as elective credits.

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College Spanish/Italian for Advanced Communication and Advanced Placement (AP)

• Pre-AP (Spanish 4) is a course that focuses heavily on grammar with activities and assignments designed in preparation for the AP curriculum and exam. It challenges and engages students in a continued exploration of the Spanish language and culture.�
• AP is a rigorous course that emphasizes communication by applying the interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes of communication in real-life situations. The course develops students' awareness and appreciation of cultural products, practices, and perspectives. The curriculum is aligned with the AP exam.

College Spanish Latin / South America

College Italian - Travel & Lifestyle OR Communication & Culture

• These courses focus on the practical application of the language in the real world.
• An emphasis is placed on CULTURE and expanding your vocabulary, while using & improving grammar that was already learned in levels 1-3.
• Grades are based on classwork, projects, quizzes, journals, and class participation.
• If you take one level as a junior, you can take the other as a senior and will study entirely different topics.

College Spanish Latin America / South America and College Italian

These courses are essentially the same course. It is a 2-year curriculum that covers different topics each year, but the course expectations and style of work remain the same.

• If you take one level as a junior, you can take the other as a senior and study entirely different topics.

Let’s hear the student perspective of the John Glenn World Language program!

Student Q & A

What questions do you have for these students �about their decision to take College Conversational Spanish/Italian and what the course is like?

MYTH: I can only take one language during my time at JGHS.

You can always pick up another language as an elective in addition to what you are currently studying.

• American Sign Language 1
• Place into Spanish 2-4 (if you are a native Spanish speaker)
• Italian 1 or Spanish 1 (possible elective added next year - any interest?)

MYTH: I won’t need foreign language in my future.

• You will likely be required to take a foreign language in college.
• Enroll in an elective that offers college credit to place higher or earn credits you can put towards a minor/major!
• There are many benefits to learning another language:
• See the world from a different perspective
• Increase your chances of employment
• Stand out to college recruiters
• Use your knowledge of the language and culture when you travel
• Challenge yourself
• Bilingualism has been linked to higher test scores

Extracurricular Activities

No matter what language you choose to take, you can always join a club related to another language!

• International Club
• Advisor: Mr. Teixiera
• World Language Honor Society*
• Advisors: Ms. Gendjoian & Mrs. Correia
• *Eligibility = 88+ unweighted GPA, 90+ average in language in language grade 9 + 10 + 1st quarter junior year
• Seal of Biliteracy
• Advisor: Mrs. Davis
• Italian Club
• Advisor: Mrs. Franco

Insight from Juniors in Pre-AP

• I chose to take pre-AP Spanish because I wanted to improve my grammar skills and expand my vocabulary. While demanding, pre-AP Spanish is a really fun course and I truly enjoy going to class everyday! �
• I came to the decision to take Pre-AP my junior year instead of Conversation because I wanted to push myself to learn more about Spanish whether it be tenses or words, so that I can use them in the real word when I have to. �
• I feel great about Pre-AP and I realized it was the right decision for me because it is a great class that has taught me more knowledge of Spanish which I can use when I travel to see my family in Spanish speaking countries. I knew it was the right decision when over time I started to excel more and more in the class.

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JUNIOR YEAR: PRE-AP vs. Conversation�Insight from Conversation Seniors who took Pre-Ap junior year

• Pre-ap is grammar and writing focused and really helped me understand how the Spanish language works. It prepared me to have a full understanding of all the Spanish tenses. Conversational is a class that emphasizes culture and verbal communication more.�
• As a student who took Pre-AP my junior year, I believe the biggest change into Conversational would be the topics and curriculum. For those wishing to learn more about the grammar, formatting, and reasoning behind the Spanish language, then the AP path is one that may suit you best. However, if you are a student looking to practice the application of Spanish in everyday life such as slang and common phrases and learn about the rich culture of Spanish speaking countries, then Conversational is definitely something to consider.

Insight from Juniors in Conversation

• I really enjoy learning the Spanish language but it gets to a point where learning new vocab and grammar gets somewhat old and the opportunity to learn about the culture of these countries is something interesting and I thought why wouldn’t I take advantage of that. I am very happy with my decision because junior year is a stressful year but this class has been very educational and always stress free and I want to travel to a lot of the countries we are talking about in the future so it’s exciting to learn about.�
• I enrolled in conversational Spanish and I highly recommend it as well. The course is not as difficult so it will lighten up your course load especially since junior year is the most difficult.�
• I chose to take conversational because I did not want to take too many AP level classes and it seemed more useful. I am happy with my decision because I do enjoy the class and what we're learning this year.��

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Insight from Juniors in Conversation

• I took Conversation because I felt it balanced out with the more challenging classes that I am taking this year. I also enjoy a class that is more involved verbally and less reliant on memorizing new grammar.�
• When it came to deciding which class to choose, I went with Conversation because personally, learning about the cultures of Spanish speaking countries was more interesting. I also wanted to expand my speaking skills in Spanish. �
• I wanted to keep on taking Spanish but I didn't want the workload of a Pre-AP on top of my other classes. I enjoy Spanish but it's not my favorite subject and I would rather take harder courses with Science and Math.�

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Insight from Seniors in Conversation 2

• Spanish is one of my favorite subjects and enrolling in Conversation made me realize how much I didn't know about its culture. I knew that this knowledge would be expanded into something I could carry with me forever.�
• I enrolled in Conversational 2 this year because of how much I enjoyed Conversational 2 last year. The class serves as a way for me to learn to communicate in Spanish at a high level without the stress of being overwhelmed with work.�
• I choose to take Conversation 2 because I knew it would be the perfect class for me to continue learning Spanish, which will he useful in any future profession, without the stress of memorizing new tenses and grammar rules.

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Thank you for watching!

Still have questions? �Please reach out to us!

American Sign Language: Mrs. Correia

Italian: Mrs. Franco (AP & Conversational) � Mrs. Handler (Pre-AP)

Spanish: Mrs. Davis (Pre-AP)� Ms. Gendjoian (Conversational)� Ms. Warren (AP)

We are excited for you to continue on your language journey!